Boston's political culture is fossilized, resistant to new ideas. If the city is going to cope successfully with the economic crisis that envelopes the nation, it is going to have to start thinking creatively, using its collective imagination in ways that will allow it to get by with less. It was in that spirit that the Phoenix two weeks ago suggested the Boston School Department overhaul its system of citywide busing in order to redirect millions of dollars into classrooms, rather than spending those increasingly scarce funds on vehicles, fuel, and drivers.

Here is another idea that could change Boston's political culture for the better: end the requirement that people who work for the city live in the city. In theory, residency requirements sound great. Workers who live here, the thinking goes, will put more into their jobs. But few people seem to recognize that the city's residency requirement inadvertently drives up labor costs.

The reason is simple: in the final analysis, the mayor's office, which — directly or indirectly — manages labor talks, is negotiating with a group of voters. And municipal workers appear to vote in greater numbers than does the general public. That is one reason why the city has been saddled with contracts of late that it can now no longer afford. There are other reasons for this. Mediation and arbitration seem to favor unions over taxpayers. And because the governor and the state legislature will not allow Boston the leeway it needs to determine its own fiscal future — a circumstance that cripples the city in myriad ways — the Hub finds itself captive to labor costs that could, in the coming years, seriously punish all residents.

Mayor Thomas Menino, an undeclared candidate for re-election, is a strong champion of the residency requirement and will not reconsider. City Councilor Michael Flaherty, one of Menino's opponents, agrees with the mayor on this one. City Councilor Sam Yoon, another challenger, is more critical, but has not yet offered a proposal for change. And long-shot maverick mayoral candidate Kevin McCrea says residency requirements should be decided at the collective-bargaining table. (Kudos to City Councilor John Tobin, of West Roxbury, who has tried to make this a citywide issue.)

Both sides have presented worthy arguments. But ultimately, the residency requirement is — through no individual's fault — such a hodgepodge, it simply makes no sense as public policy.

Less than one third of the city's employees — fewer than 5000 — were subject to the residency requirement, as of a 2004 Boston Globe review. For starters, Massachusetts's teachers had the foresight and political muscle to get the state legislature to exempt them from residency requirements statewide. That takes the city government's biggest union out of play.

Thousands of additional employees have been grandfathered in, based on vastly different starting dates, depending on when their union's contract first included the residency requirement. Still others have been granted waivers, often because of political connections.

The result is that some 12,000 city employees, according to that same Globe review, are free to live outside the city, with no obvious detrimental effect. To the contrary, the city gets better workers by opening the jobs up to the broader talent pool of applicants who choose to live elsewhere. If there are qualified, hard-working people in Randolph, Quincy, Somerville, and Brookline we could be adding to our police force, fire department, and other city departments, are we really in a position to turn them away?

Murph’s Last Grasp? The ever-restless Stephen Murphy is at it again, running anew for state treasurer — just a few months after voters re-elected him to the Boston City Council.

Bay State not the bluest Mr. Faraone’s sidebar to the recent feature “ ‘Tea’ is for Terrorism” states that “Massachusetts is the most socialist, hippie liberal moon-bat enclave in the country.”

Tea Party Progressives? When Democrat Peter Smulowitz celebrated his victory in the special-election primary for State Senate earlier this month in the back room of Masala Art restaurant in Needham, no bigwigs from his party were in attendance.

Ready to rumble Last summer, the upcoming race that got most Bay State politicos salivating was the run for governor.

Bay State's top lobbyists Nearly everyone in Massachusetts felt the pinch of the recession in 2009 — even Beacon Hill lobbyists had to tighten their belts.

The Cultural Caucus's big gamble The recently formed Cultural Caucus, a loose, formal coalition comprising a dozen arts-friendly state legislators, appears poised to christen its political life by inserting itself into what could be the most intense statewide political battle of the spring legislative session: the move to allow casino gambling in Massachusetts.

Boston's last congressman? At the moment, neither the Senate president nor the Speaker of the House lives in the city. And in two years, the unthinkable could become reality: Boston might not have a single congressman residing in its borders.

Chaos Theory In less than two weeks, when Massachusetts voters elect Martha Coakley to the US Senate — let's not pretend that Republican state senator Scott Brown has any chance of pulling off the monumental upset — they will trigger a massive domino effect that has the state's political class buzzing with anticipation.

State of flux A few weeks ago, the state legislature headed into its winter break with what might be called a flurry of inactivity.

MERCY AND SAL DIMASI | March 13, 2013 When it comes to showing a modicum of mercy to some of those convicted of federal crimes, Barack Obama is shaping up to have the worst track record of any president in recent memory.

NEXT, MARRIAGE EQUALITY | March 05, 2013 On March 27 and 28, the US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in two cases that could essentially put America on the road to full marriage equality.

THUS SPAKE MARKEY | February 26, 2013 Last week, Congressman Ed Markey inadvertently injected some daring political thinking and a touch of historical imagination into the race to fill the US Senate seat vacated by John Kerry's appointment as secretary of state.

DRONES: 10 THOUGHTS | February 20, 2013 Foreign drone attacks are almost (but not quite yet) as American as apple pie.